


Journals

by TaigaCowboy



Category: The Late Night Crew
Genre: Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-05 18:33:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17330267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaigaCowboy/pseuds/TaigaCowboy
Summary: An abandoned town named Braided Trees has been discovered by various search teams in hopes of finding more people to come back to the slowly rebuilding world. After an Apocalypse that lasted four years, Earth is trying to get back onto it's feet, in doing so, people are determined to bring everyone back together. Braided Trees was almost completely deserted though, and it looks like the evacuation was recent. The search teams are struggling to find the reason why this town, that was actually doing very well, would suddenly leave. Especially since everything seemed to be left in the town.Braided Trees kept an odd form of documentation-- each person living there, even children, had their own journals that they had to write in every day, and each person had a cassette tape with Amanda Rose asking them questions. One that caught search teams' eyes are two journals and a tape titled "CRY". They only get more curious after discovering his niece in the towns school, when she claims that he is the reason why the town of over one hundred people have gone missing.{If you are sensitive to mentions of suicide/attempted suicide, or suicide in general, please take caution in reading, or avoid this fic, thanku}





	1. First Journal:Recording #1

**Author's Note:**

> hi so i had no idea how to put a warning abt the suicide ments, so sorry abt the messy desc.. Also i have no idea when i'll finish the other two fics so um cryShrug

You have located an abandoned city-like area after Earth’s recovery from an Apocalypse. So far your team has only gotten into the first building that seems to be the only entrance to the second layer of fencing. The fencing is giving off dangerous amounts of electricity, and corpses are scattered alongside it. It’s assumed the corpses, since they’re outside, were only Undead when they hit the fence, but there are several on the inner side too. The outer wall is much more tame but it is still covered in barbs, spikes, etc..

The building is a simple two room. The first one has a table, a cassette recorder, and a few chairs. Behind the table is an emptied set of metal shelves. The second room has six shelves stacked in journals. Two beneath those shelves are covered in cassette tapes. These items are neatly organized, and the bottom left shelf has a metal can filled with sharpies of different colors. The sharpies have a band of tape wrapped around them with a letter written in black on them. Each tape has initials written on them, with the color being the first initials assigned color. They’re alphabetically ordered, along with the journals.

There are kitchen appliances in the second room, but no food was found. Unused tapes and journals were in the counters drawers, along with unopened packs of sharpies. A back door is in the first room.

You picked up a journal with initials you can’t quite read, but above the initials is “CRY” written in messy capital letters. You pick up the tape that has the same unintelligible initials and “CRY” written above them.

There are various older buildings within the second fence. One resembles a marketplace, another a makeshift hospital, and a third a cafeteria. The largest building behind there is an old business building made into apartments. Behind the apartments are an array of houses made of varying material. 

To the left looking from the entrance is a gravel road. Following it leads to three different sets of small housing. From reading a few journals, they are said to be temporary housing while the new arrivals assimilate into the community, and while the arrivals have their house built or apartment furnished if they chose to stay. The smaller housing are old storage containers made to have insulation, beds, plugins, and various other things. In the middle of each set of these is a fire pit and seating.

Each set has six storage containers, and they never differed in what they offered. There was always one large storage container providing two mattresses instead of one. Windows covered in fencing were made at the top of the containers out of reach, and the containers had locks on the inside of them as well. 

To the right from the entrance is a dirt trail that leads to a community center and a playground. There are sets of smaller journals there, and most appear to be written by those under fourteen, but some are written in neat cursive about children who are under seven. They document the children’s behavior, and those written by the kids themselves share their thoughts and mental state. These journals are the most filled out, though they are similar to the ones in the first building to this city. 

Behind the homes built for these people was a large area of open space. It was fenced off at a point, and the ground was leveled. This was, assumingly, so they could put in more homes if needed. The dirt from the leveling was put beyond the first outer fence.

You are now allowed to review the recording and journal you found while looking through the first building.

  
  


\---------------------------

Inside of the Journal Cover

 

**“CRY”, ____ _____**

 

**DATE JOINED:** _ August 14th, 2019 _

**AGE:** 30

**D.O.B:** June 11th, 1989

**GLASSES?:** **_Yes_ ** / _ No. - Very well taken care of for this shitstorm! :) Still get him an extra pair if we have his prescription please, along with the stuff that cleans them _

 

**ASSIGNED JOB:** _Historian assistant (Part time, Full Week), Gardener (Training needed, Part Time Tue/Thurs), Stablehand (Training needed, Part Time Mon/Wed/Fri). Rests Sat/Sun._

**CAME WITH:** _ Scott Jund (Friend, 29), ______ _____ (Little Brother, 20), ____ _____ (Niece, 5), Angel ______ (Friend, Never specified age), Mentioned three others but they were not present, (A girlfriend of Scott’s, “Russ”, “Snake”) _

**FAMILY:** _ ______ _____ (Little Brother), ______ _____ (Mother), ____ _____ (Niece) _

 

The bolded lettering is in all caps done in marker. The information is done in a neat mix of cursive and print writing. You cannot read the majority of the names written.

 

**Recording #1**

 

_ The click of the recording being turned on is the first noise, it fades into a light buzz. _

 

Woman’s Voice: So, we’re going to be recording this first meeting since our other leaders aren’t available to sit in with us.

Man’s Voice (CRY?): Yeah-- that’s fine.

Woman’s Voice: I’m Amanda Rose, it is August 13th and I am here with ____ and Angel, ____’s younger brother _____, and his niece ____. 

_ When the names are spoken the Audio stutters, making it hard to tell what is being said. _

Amanda: So do you three want to stay in a home or an apartment?

CRY: A home if that’s not any trouble.

Amanda: No! No, not at all, but it would take longer to set up than an apartment. Angel are you going to be living with them.

Angel: Yes.

Amanda: Okay, how many rooms is preferred for all of you?

_ Brief Silence. _

CRY: Four? I think-- yeah, four.

Amanda: Alright!

_ Papers shuffling. _

Amanda: Do you know if either of you have surviving family?

_ Another Silence. _

Amanda: Er-- we’ve been able to reunite families, that’s why we ask.

CRY: Um-- I-I don’t know if my mother made it.

Angel: I don’t know. 

Amanda: Alright, ____ do you mind telling me your mothers name in case she is here or ends up here?

CRY: ______ _____

Amanda: That-- that actually sounds a little familiar let me look at our resident list.

(Little Brother): ( _ Barely Legible, sound of someone shifting in chair) _ Do you think mom’s here--?

CRY: I don’t know. 

_ Walking from room to room. Silence. Walking back. _

Amanda: We have a ______ _____! She has an apartment--

(Little Brother): Can we go see her? Please?

(Niece): I wanna see grandma!

CRY: Uhm--

Amanda: Guys-- guys, you’ll be able to see her when we’re done with this, I have a few more questions you the four of you.

 

**End Recording #1**

 

First page of journal. The handwriting is a simple print, contrasting greatly from the informational page on the inside of the cover.

        “I was given this journal on August 15th, 2019, after being recommended one of the therapists in the camp. I am scheduled to meet with Dr. Lakeview twice a week, Wednesday at Noon, Sunday at Eight. Dr. Lakeview suggested to keep track of:  Dreams, Sleeping Patterns, and my twitching/fidgeting/chewing on nails. Mrs. Rose suggested to write down:  Thoughts, What happened during my day, and trying to write down past memories that I still remember. I have been given a second journal for that.

I Am Having Troubles With:  **Memory (Mixes up memories/details, cannot recall recent ones), Sleeping/Heavy Fatigue, Suicide Ideation, Depression, More to be learned later.**

**_KEEP HIM OCCUPIED!!!_ ** ”   
  


The bolded lettering is written in Small and Regular caps, in a different handwriting. “Keep him occupied” is written in huge lettering and underlined multiple times. In the margins and beneath the writing on the first page are various doodles of a character with a round head and antennae, along with characters that were popular before the apocalypse. Scribbling is next to some, or over drawings. One drawing has an arrow pointing at it saying “it’s russ’s birthday today :(“. There is another “:(“ next to “Keep him occupied”.

\---------------------------

  
  


You are given the Second Journal that CRY had during this time after discovering the house him and his family had been settled in. You find Angel’s journal there, but her bedroom was locked. Her cat  Lydia was in the locked room perfectly healthy and well fed. There was a Note on top of Angel’s Journal.

  
  


\---------------------------

Angel’s Note

 

            “Hello! If you managed to get in here, thank you for looking at this note. I had to leave my cat Lydia behind during our evacuation. All I ask is that you leave her alone or take care of her if you are able to. Anything I left behind you can have. 

I’m sorry.”

\---------------------------

  
  


Lydia was taken by your team and is being escorted to the Animal Team located in the city by team members Jacob 89463 and Alex 11365. 

Clothes had been left behind in the closet, along with a container filled to the brim with cat food, which was left open. A box containing personal items was tucked behind the clothes in the closets shelves. The one notable thing that was in the box was a  Case of Bullets , which was labeled “Later” in black sharpie.

 

Notes:

  * The town was evacuated. No documentation as to where they went.
  * There was care for: Mental health, Physical health, Animals.
  * Estimated 114 People lived here.
  * There is a graveyard with 12 headstones.
  * A teenager was discovered during search of the town. She refused to go with search parties and yelled at them. She says they did not evacuate. She says that CRY is why the town disappeared.
    * “CRY isn’t ____”
    * She is the niece of ____, but “she is not the niece of CRY”
    * She repeated “I’m sorry” over and over
    * Touch repulsed, gave search party member black eye when they tried to get close to her.
    * Armed. Threatened to kill the members there if they didn’t leave her alone.
    * The most she allowed them to do was test her (which requires very little touch), and while she isn’t infected the team’s medic said that her test results were not normal
  * Other animals were found along with Lydia. None were infected.
  * The town is still being searched for others who might have stayed in the town.
  * Search Team 3 has discovered that there is a door that leads to a tunnel system in the basement of the Hospital.




	2. Rain Wall.

CRY felt as if he was suffocating. He wasn’t, but the tightness in his chest, the humidity of the air-- everything around him was overwhelming him. Even if he was just sitting in the back of a car, even if all that was going on was rain and the others in his group rearranging everyones stuff and preparing food, he felt overwhelmed and it didn’t help that the air was so humid. Even even even even    --!!!

“CRY,” Angel hummed, CRY jumped, “Are you going to eat?”

“I’m fine.”

“When was the last time you ate?”

“I’m fine.”

“ _ CRY _ ,” She huffed, then repeated, “When was the last time you ate?”

“This morning, I’m not hungry.”

“It’s literally sundown, you need to eat.” 

CRY didn’t respond. Angel nudged his shoulder with a plastic bowl, and without looking at her, he grabbed the bowl and set it in his lap. He started kicking his leg back and forth gently from where he sat. Angel said something to him again, but he didn’t hear her. He just kept staring out the back of the car. 

It was raining pretty heavily. Not where their car was parked, but close enough. The wall of rain splattered water several feet from where it actually stopped. The air was heavy with the smell of it, and the smell of something else. He couldn’t place it. He couldn’t see into the rain. It was lighter where he sat, but it was  _ dark  _ where it was raining. Ever since the rain started he hasn’t been able to focus. 

“CRY,  _ please eat, _ ” Angel said, sounding annoyed, “I know you don’t exactly have a driving duty but I don’t want to risk the chance of someone spilling their shit everywhere if we run into something.” 

CRY didn’t respond. Angel nudged his shoulder with a plastic bowl he saw something in the rain. He squinted at it, his glasses no longer the clearest or scratch-free, and leaned forward. His swinging foot hit something. He flinched. He’d stood without realizing it. He set the bowl down and started walking towards the wall of rain. He heard someone speak but he couldn’t tell who. He didn’t have shoes on, so he could feel the dirt road as he walked. It was cold. As he continued it got more and more wet. As he continued it got more and more and more and more and more and more and more and mroe adn mmeor e ams more

CRY gasped quietly when the rain hit his head. Someone was yelling at him. As he continued it it it it it he saw _s_ing__ometh__ standing in the rain in the middle of the road . He kept walking towards he r???it?h? m it she . Him. He stared at the other man as he finally stopped . He stood several feet away from him. The man looked younger than him with blond hair that was so pale, even when wet, that it looked white. His eyes were grey, his lips were a vile mix of blue and brown with his bottom lip being broken, his clothes were soaked and covered in dirt, he was shorter than CRY, the shape of his face narrow, his skin was nearing the same blue as his lips and his veins were visible. He could hear someone yelling at him. The man in front of him walked forward, arm raising with fingers spread almost unnaturally wide. CRY grunted and quickly regained balance when his hand landed firmly in the middle of his chest . CRY clenched his jaw tightly, letting out a quick breath, setting his foot behind him to keep himself steady against the pressure.

Suddenly a sharp pain touched his arm. It felt as if he was being burned and as if his skin was being torn into , , , , he screamed in pain and whipped around, knocking off the hand on his chest, and grabbing whatever had grabbed his arm. 

“ **_DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME,_ ** ” CRY yelled    he held onto what had touched him with as much strength as he could, before pushing it away from him. The thing that he grabbed screeched in its own pain, and just before it landed on the ground he finally processed what it had been, “Angel--” 

“Fuck, I’ll leave you alone then!” Angel was holding onto her wrist, and she had quickly scrambled up off the ground, “Just get in the car, you’re going to get sick standing out here in the rain like a fucking dumbass!” 

CRY stammered and started fiddling with his hands as she quickly walked off-- she was obviously trying to hold back from crying. CRY didn’t feel guilt immediately though. The only thing on his mind as his hands began to shake was whatever it was that had touched him. He turned around to see nothing. He licked his lips, blinking when he tasted blood. He put a hand up to his mouth, feeling blood coming from his nose. He looked at his hand, the rain quickly washing away the blood on it. CRY clenched his jaw, then guilt for hurting Angel came onto him, along with a million other thoughts. He walked back to the car.

**Author's Note:**

> I heavily encourage that those reading put their thoughts about the recordings and journal pages in the comments!!


End file.
